Flitcroft Interview in Baggers' 'The Valiant'

[Powerline]

3 hours ago, Guitar Ray said:

Perhaps you can explain how other newspapers manage?  I can go online and read the latest on Stevenage or FGR for example.  It doesn’t take a genius to come up with the idea that the Sentinel could employ just one reporter who’s job it is to cover both Stoke and Vale.

Not really a fair comparison though. I hate stoke obviously but they’re a far bigger club than us. When was the last time we had 20k in the ground? You’re living in dreamland if you think they’d share a reporter with vale.

[Guitar Ray]

2 hours ago, Trumpingtonvale said:

Doesn’t take a genius just a reporter who can be in two places at the same time for matches and press conferences that occur concurrently. I’d have assumed it’s simple economics, Stoke have more fans (time in the Prem. created a huge global audience and potential interest in following them from afar and that is still reflected in interest in online news stories etc), ergo more potential ‘readers’ of the on-line pages so the pages attract more advertisers/pop-ups which means the Sentinel/their owners can keep posting articles for ‘free’.  Perhaps the Vale articles didn’t generate enough hits to sell the advertising space so the Sentinel decided not to replace Mike when he left and they can’t afford to pay him now so subsidise that with a ‘fee for story account’?  
 

I agree it stinks that a ‘local’ newspaper doesn’t equally or even adequately cover the two local (3 if you count Crwho) league teams, have any fans written letters to the editor (of the Sentinel/their owners) to complain or threaten a boycott? It would certainly be interesting to see what happens with coverage if the two Stoke-on-Trent teams end up in the same league in the next year or two but in the meantime it is what it is and it’s each fan’s choice to determine the value of The Valiant to them.
 

Fair comment about being in two places at once, and since our near neighbours dropped out of the Prem many more of the fixtures clash.  That said it’s still easily possible for one journo to offer more coverage of the Vale than is currently the case, there just isn’t the will to do it.  As I said I can go online and read about any other league club, and plenty of non-league clubs for that matter, so the cost excuse is just that, an excuse, unless you really believe that clubs with much smaller fan bases than ours will draw in more readers.

[Guitar Ray]

23 minutes ago, Powerline said:

Not really a fair comparison though. I hate stoke obviously but they’re a far bigger club than us. When was the last time we had 20k in the ground? You’re living in dreamland if you think they’d share a reporter with vale.

Why is it not fair?  Why can I read about a club with a much smaller fan base than ours if advertising revenue is the reason behind the lack of coverage in our local paper?  Also, I think we’ve shared reporters in the past on occasions, though obviously not long term.

[Powerline]

27 minutes ago, Guitar Ray said:

Why is it not fair?  Why can I read about a club with a much smaller fan base than ours if advertising revenue is the reason behind the lack of coverage in our local paper?  Also, I think we’ve shared reporters in the past on occasions, though obviously not long term.

Because I’d imagine in the case of Stevenage and forest green they’re the only club in their area. So it’s easier to report as they’ll only need the one reporter. Whereas the one reporter in our area gets taken up by stoke.

We’re not the only club who suffers from this. Pretty sure tranmere don’t even get bbc coverage of their games.

[Powerline]

2 hours ago, Trumpingtonvale said:

Doesn’t take a genius just a reporter who can be in two places at the same time for matches and press conferences that occur concurrently. I’d have assumed it’s simple economics, Stoke have more fans (time in the Prem. created a huge global audience and potential interest in following them from afar and that is still reflected in interest in online news stories etc), ergo more potential ‘readers’ of the on-line pages so the pages attract more advertisers/pop-ups which means the Sentinel/their owners can keep posting articles for ‘free’.  Perhaps the Vale articles didn’t generate enough hits to sell the advertising space so the Sentinel decided not to replace Mike when he left and they can’t afford to pay him now so subsidise that with a ‘fee for story account’?  
 

I agree it stinks that a ‘local’ newspaper doesn’t equally or even adequately cover the two local (3 if you count Crwho) league teams, have any fans written letters to the editor (of the Sentinel/their owners) to complain or threaten a boycott? It would certainly be interesting to see what happens with coverage if the two Stoke-on-Trent teams end up in the same league in the next year or two but in the meantime it is what it is and it’s each fan’s choice to determine the value of The Valiant to them.
 

Yes I agree with this. Obviously it’s a shame but at the end of the day it’s just a matter of economics. Besides, as someone else said, I’d rather pay than use their nightmare of a website.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Powerline

[Guitar Ray]

3 hours ago, Powerline said:

Because I’d imagine in the case of Stevenage and forest green they’re the only club in their area. So it’s easier to report as they’ll only need the one reporter. Whereas the one reporter in our area gets taken up by stoke.

We’re not the only club who suffers from this. Pretty sure tranmere don’t even get bbc coverage of their games.

They’ve also got a fraction of our support and potential readers.  Forest Green are in Goucestershire so they’re competing for coverage with Cheltenham and also Gloucester Rugby.  They obviously have more than one reporter down there yet we don’t.  In fact I can look on the Gloucester Live sports pages and read about the likes of Bishops Cleeve FC and Tuffley Town while you’re trying to justify having no Vale coverage in the Sentinel.  

[jimbo57]

16 hours ago, Powerline said:

Because I’d imagine in the case of Stevenage and forest green they’re the only club in their area. So it’s easier to report as they’ll only need the one reporter. Whereas the one reporter in our area gets taken up by stoke.

We’re not the only club who suffers from this. Pretty sure tranmere don’t even get bbc coverage of their games.

I've already said, Vale have someone reporting on them at The Sentinel called Clive Yulton,  who I think does a good job. He's not a general reporter who writes about dogs pooing the pavement, he only writes about the Vale and I think he does OK. Stoke have Peter Smith covering them.

[jimbo57]

12 hours ago, Guitar Ray said:

They’ve also got a fraction of our support and potential readers.  Forest Green are in Goucestershire so they’re competing for coverage with Cheltenham and also Gloucester Rugby.  They obviously have more than one reporter down there yet we don’t.  In fact I can look on the Gloucester Live sports pages and read about the likes of Bishops Cleeve FC and Tuffley Town while you’re trying to justify having no Vale coverage in the Sentinel.  

FFS, read the effing paper, then you'll see we do have coverage!!!

[Guitar Ray]

3 hours ago, jimbo57 said:

FFS, read the effing paper, then you'll see we do have coverage!!!

I’ve just clicked on “sport” on the app, nothing.

[vallyunt]

Think he means the actual newspaper Ray, which some of us neanderthals still buy as opposed to the online paper. They do actually write something every day about Vale in there else I wouldn't buy it but there is a predominance of Stoke as expected

Sent from my CPH2195 using onevalefan mobile app

[Guitar Ray]

5 minutes ago, vallyunt said:

Think he means the actual newspaper Ray, which some of us neanderthals still buy as opposed to the online paper. They do actually write something every day about Vale in there else I wouldn't buy it but there is a predominance of Stoke as expected

Sent from my CPH2195 using onevalefan mobile app
 

People still buy an actual newspaper?  The question then would be why can’t that news find its way online?  Maybe it does and I’m missing it.

[Fosse69]

11 minutes ago, Guitar Ray said:

People still buy an actual newspaper?  The question then would be why can’t that news find its way online?  Maybe it does and I’m missing it.

They must be hiding it I could not find any signposting apart from the advert for In Depth Port Vale on The Valiant

[Powerline]

22 hours ago, Guitar Ray said:

They’ve also got a fraction of our support and potential readers.  Forest Green are in Goucestershire so they’re competing for coverage with Cheltenham and also Gloucester Rugby.  They obviously have more than one reporter down there yet we don’t.  In fact I can look on the Gloucester Live sports pages and read about the likes of Bishops Cleeve FC and Tuffley Town while you’re trying to justify having no Vale coverage in the Sentinel.  

Bishops Cleeve and Tuffley Toen won’t be covered by just one journalist though like we have currently with Mike so it’s not really a fair comparison

[Powerline]

9 hours ago, jimbo57 said:

I've already said, Vale have someone reporting on them at The Sentinel called Clive Yulton,  who I think does a good job. He's not a general reporter who writes about dogs pooing the pavement, he only writes about the Vale and I think he does OK. Stoke have Peter Smith covering them.

A quick google showed that Clive Youlton is the sports editor at the Surrey Advertiser. The Surrey advertiser are owned by Reach plc like the sentinel. So it’s fairly clear they’ve just got him writing these articles in addition to his regular job as an editor down in Guildford. Hardly top notch reporting on vale (not blaming him).

[Guitar Ray]

On 12/12/2023 at 19:50, Powerline said:

Bishops Cleeve and Tuffley Toen won’t be covered by just one journalist though like we have currently with Mike so it’s not really a fair comparison

Obviously Bishops Cleeve and Tuffley Town won’t be covered by just one journalist, they’re big clubs.  Maybe when we get to their size we can have a journalist to ourselves. 👍🏻